Thank you.
So we're going to read Genesis chapter 20 together.
Again, I encourage you, if you've missed any of the talks, you can follow back online.
They're recorded and put up each week.
Please avail of that. It's for you, for your good.
So Genesis chapter 20, starting at verse 1.
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur.
For a while he stayed in Gerar.
And there Abraham said of his wife Sarah,
She is my sister.
Then Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him,
You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken.
She is a married woman.
Now Abimelech had not gone near her.
So he said,
Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
Did he not say to me,
She is my sister.
And didn't she also say,
He is my brother?
Father, I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.
Then God said to him in the dream,
Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience.
And so I have kept you from sinning against me.
That is why I did not let you touch her.
Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet.
And he will pray for you.
And you will live.
But if you do not return her,
You may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.
Early the next morning, Abimelech summoned all his officials.
And when he told them all that had happened,
They were very much afraid.
Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said,
What have you done to us?
How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom?
You have done things to me that should never be done.
And Abimelech asked Abraham,
What was your reason for doing this?
Abraham replied,
I said to myself,
There is surely no fear of God in this place,
And they will kill me because of my wife.
Besides, she really is my sister,
The daughter of my father,
Though not of my mother,
And she became my wife.
And when God calls me to wander from my father's household,
I said to her,
This is how you can show your love to me.
Everywhere we go,
Say of me,
He is my brother.
Then Abimelech bought sheep,
Cattle,
And male and female slaves,
And gave them to Abraham.
And he returned Sarah, his wife, to him.
And Abimelech said,
My land is before you.
Live wherever you like.
To Sarah he said,
I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver.
This is to cover the offence against you
Before all who are with you.
You are completely vindicated.
Then Abraham prayed to God,
And God healed Abimelech,
His wife and his female slaves,
So that they could have children again.
For the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech's household
From conceiving,
Because of Abraham's wife, Sarah.
Let's pray.
Father, would you please speak to us in such a way
That we can engage with your word with our minds,
That we understand it.
But would you deal with us,
That we would engage with it in such a way
That it changes our life,
That we do business with you today, Father.
That we would leave this building
Changed and blessed
Because of what you have done in us.
We ask this from you
Because without your work
We are helpless to change anything in us.
We need your help.
Be gracious to us.
And it's in your name we pray.
Amen.
Groundhog Day,
I'm sure some of you are familiar with the phrase,
But it's something
That has happened before
And that happens again.
It's a recurring of the same event.
This was portrayed in the film
With the same title,
Groundhog Day.
The lead character was a man called Phil,
A weatherman who confidently announced
That the threatening snow blizzard
Was going to bypass their city.
Except for his predictions were all wrong.
The blizzard struck
And the city came to a standstill.
And the whole film is all about Phil
Who wakes up each morning
And relives the same awful nightmare experience.
It's like he's been caught up
In this recurring loop.
Well it seems Abraham
Is having his own Groundhog Day.
Have a look with me at verse 1.
Now Abraham moved on from there.
He was in the region of Sodom.
And he moves down to the Negev
And lived between Kadesh and Shur.
So a new area for him to stay.
For a while he stayed in Gerar.
And there Abraham said of his wife Sarah,
She is my sister.
Now why would Abraham be saying something like that?
Well Abraham was afraid
That if they discovered Sarah was his wife
They might kill him.
So verse 2
He comes up with a plan.
Tell them she is my sister.
And Abimelech king of Gerar
Sent for Sarah
And took her.
Now you might be looking at that and go
That sounds very familiar.
And you'd be right.
Have a look with me back to chapter 12
For a freshener.
Back to chapter 12.
Abraham has just received God's promises
That he will be a great nation.
That he's going to have a family.
And that all the nations of the world
Will be blessed through him.
But look what happens.
Verse 11
As Abraham was about to enter Egypt
He said to his wife Sarah
I know what a beautiful woman you are.
When the Egyptians see you
They will say
This is his wife.
Then they will kill me
But will let you live.
I know.
Say you're my sister
So that I will be treated well
For your sake
And my life will be spared
Because of you.
Familiar?
Let's go back to chapter 20.
Abraham has already been there
Done that
And got the t-shirt.
It was a classic case of unbelief.
God had repeated his promise to him
Over and over and over again
Specifically telling him
That he would have a son
Through Sarah.
But it seems like he's forgotten
All of those promises
And once more chapter 20
He steps out in unbelief.
It's Groundhog Day.
But let's not slam Abraham.
We have our own Groundhog Days
All the time.
We too live by unbelief.
The same recurring choices and decisions
Not to believe God's promises
Turn up again and again.
Repeatedly we're reminded
That with God
We lack no good thing.
That he's given us
Every spiritual blessing in Christ.
That he's given us
Everything we need
For a godly life.
God reassures us
Time and time again
My grace is sufficient for you.
But despite being promised
All we need
We still don't believe the promises
Do we?
We prefer to trust in other things
And look to other people.
Every day is like that recurring
Groundhog Day.
But we don't have to live in a cycle of unbelief.
We don't have to live in a pattern of
Continued sin.
It can change.
There is another way.
But before we get there
Let's look at how unbelief
Is so serious
And so devastating.
First we want to see
The serious effects
Of living by unbelief.
The serious effects
Of living by unbelief.
Unbelief is never
An individual thing.
It's never just about
My choice and my decision
That affects only me.
Like when you throw a stone
Into a pool
So our acts of unbelief
Have this ripple effects
That fly out to other people.
First it affects others.
Look at verse 2.
After all that Abraham had said
Look at the end of verse 2.
Abimelech, king of Gerar
Sent for Sarah
And took her.
He takes a woman
Who was married
To someone else.
Now it might well have been
Unintentional
Verse 5.
Did he not say to me
She is my sister
And didn't she also say
He is my brother?
I've done this
With a clear conscience
And clear hands.
Well yes it was
Unintentional
But it was still wrong.
The point is
Abraham's life
Of unbelief
Has led to the sinful choice
Of Abimelech.
You see none of us
Can ever claim
That my sin
Is only personal
And it affects
Only me.
This is my life
And these are my decisions
And they have no bearing
On anybody else.
No that's not right.
How we live
And how we behave
Has a serious effect
On others.
It has this
Ripple effect.
In fact it's
More dangerous
Than that.
Because we discover
It's also against
God.
Look at verse 6.
Then God said
To Abimelech
In the dream
Yes I know
You did this
With a clear conscience
And so I've kept you
From sinning
Against me.
That is why
I did not let you
Touch her.
You see Abimelech's
Decision to take
A wife
That wasn't his
Was not just
Against Abraham
And against Sarah.
It would ultimately be
As we see there
In verse 6
God says
It would be
Against me.
Yes there is a
Merciful intervention
God kept him
From taking Sarah
To himself
But to take Sarah
As a wife
Would be
To sin against
God.
You see Abraham
And Sarah
Belong to God
As does every
Human being.
He made us
He owns us
So to harm
Another person
To go against
Another person
Is in reality
To go against
God.
He takes it
Personally.
So can you see
The serious effects
Of living by
Unbelief.
Abraham's decision
Not to trust
God and tell
Lies about
His wife
Ends up
With Abimelech
Not only taking
A wife that
Doesn't belong
To him
But now he
Finds himself
Under God's
Judgment.
But more than
That
It all leads
To death.
Verse 3
God came to
Abimelech
In a dream
One night
And said to
Him
You are as
Good as
Dead
Because of
The woman
You've taken
She's a
Married woman.
You see
That's what
Happens when
We go against
What God
Says.
We come under
God's judgment
And we die.
You see
Sin has this
Ripple effect.
It's never
Just about
Me and
My life
And the
Things that
I do
And say
It's all
Up to
Me.
It doesn't
Affect
Anybody
Else.
It does
Affect
Everybody
Else.
And Abimelech's
Sin is even
Having a
Wider effect
In his
Own family.
Did you see
That at the
End of
Verse 7?
But if you
Do not
Return her
You may
Be sure
That you
And all
Who belong
To you
Will die.
So can you
Follow the
Thread of
What's
Happening here?
Each person
May be
Held
Responsible
For their
Actions
But it
All started
With the
Unbelief
Of Abraham.
He chose
Not to
Believe the
Promises of
God.
And it
Had a
Serious
Knock on
Effect.
Instead of
Being the
One who
Brings
Blessing
To the
Nations
Because of
His
Behaviour
He's now
Bringing a
Curse
To the
Nations.
Maybe you
Haven't
Thought about
This before
But it
Is a
Theme that
Runs all
The way
Through
Scripture.
Go forward
With me
Please to
Exodus.
It's the
Next book
In the
Bible
After
Genesis.
Exodus
Chapter
34.
Exodus
34.
And here
In this
Chapter
God
Reveals
Himself
To
Moses.
He shows
Moses
What his
Character
Is like.
We'll pick it
Up in
Verse 6.
Exodus
34.
Verse 6.
And he
That's God
Passed in
Front of
Moses
Proclaiming
The
Lord
The
Lord
The
Compassionate
And
Gracious
God
Slow to
Anger
Abounding
In
Love
And
Faithfulness
Maintaining
Love
To
Thousands
And
Forgiving
Wickedness
Rebellion
And
Sin.
Now look
What else
It says.
And
Parents
Listen
Carefully.
Yet
He does
Not
Leave
The
Guilty
Unpunished.
He
Punishes
The
Children
And
Their
Children
For
The
Sin
Of
The
Parents
To
The
Third
And
Fourth
Generation.
You
See
My
Behaviour
As
A
Father
My
Sinful
Behaviour
Has
An
Effect
As
They
Do
What
I
Do
And
So
It
Goes
On
Down
The
Line
Living
By
Unbelief
Has
A
Terrible
Ripple
Effect
That
Reaches
Far
Beyond
Our
Own
Life
And
If
We
Want
To
Get
How
Serious
God
Takes
This
Go
With
Me
Please
To
Matthew
Gospel
Chapter
18
Matthew
Gospel
Chapter
18
First
Book
In
The
New
Testament
Jesus
Here
Has
Been
Teaching
Little
Children
Small
Ones
Explaining
That
The
Kingdom
Of
God
Belongs
To
Them
Too
And
That
We
Can
Learn
From
Little
Children
And
Then
He
Goes
On
To
Say
This
Chapter
18
Verse
6
If
Anyone
Causes
One
Of
These
Little
Ones
That
Is
Those
Who
Believe
In
Me
To
Stumble
I
That
Their
Let
They
Can't
Come
Like
That
illegitieness
In hot
has a serious effect on others.
It can lead them to turn away from God
and it can lead to our own judgment.
Let's go back to Genesis 20.
So first, the serious effects
of living by unbelief.
Second, there's the devastating impact
of living by unbelief.
You see, it not only affects others,
it also, of course, has a deep
and profound impact on us personally.
So having been confronted by God,
God now uses Abimelech
to go and confront Abraham.
Look at verse 10.
And Abimelech asked Abraham,
what was your reason for doing this?
Why did you tell me so many lies?
Why did you act like this?
Well, Abraham responds,
and I'm not sure if it's a confession
or if he's just simply restating the facts.
Either way, Abraham reveals
the devastating impact
of living by unbelief.
It starts
with not trusting God.
Verse 11.
Abraham replied,
I said to myself,
here's the reason for why I did what I did.
There is surely no fear of God in this place
and they will kill me because of my wife.
Abraham assumed
that in this new area he was living,
his life would be in immediate danger.
And in some ways,
the threat was credible.
That's what powerful kings like Abimelech could do.
But remember,
Abraham had a promise
for situations like this.
Go back to chapter 18
and verse 13.
Let's remind ourselves
of what God had promised Abraham.
Chapter 18, verse 13.
Then the Lord said to Abraham,
Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Will I really have a child now that I'm old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I will return to you
at the appointed time next year
and Sarah will have a son.
You see, Abraham,
do you remember what I told you?
Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
That means threats from powerful kings
are not a problem.
I don't need you, Abraham,
to come up with your schemes
to save the day.
Abraham, I just want you
to walk by faith
and obey my promise.
But he doesn't.
In fact, it turns out
that Abimelech seems to have
more fear of God
than Abraham has faith in God.
He simply doesn't trust
what God said
and Abraham takes matters
into his own hands.
He puts his trust in self.
Now, how many times
do we believe our own thoughts
over God's word?
unbelief is subtle
and can show up
in all kinds of ways.
It starts with not trusting God
and it moves very quickly
to blaming God.
You see, when unbelief
gets us into a pickle,
well, it's not my fault,
that's for sure.
Look how Abraham continues,
verse 13.
And when God caused me
to wander from my father's household,
if God had never told me
to leave my family home
and to move to this new land,
if God had just left me
where I was,
I was comfortable,
everything was alright,
if God,
then none of this
would have happened.
You see, living by unbelief
is never our fault, is it?
It's God who got me
into the mess
and now I have to try
and find a way out of it,
even if it means disobedience.
You see, we're all
a little bit like Abraham.
We're like his
earlier
great, great,
I'm going to get confused now,
but he's like Adam as well,
in the Garden of Eden
when God confronted him
with his unbelief.
Do you remember
what Adam said?
This is what he said to God,
the woman
you put here with me,
she gave me
some of the fruit
from the tree
and I ate it.
God, if you
didn't put this woman here,
then I wouldn't be
in this mess.
It's not my fault.
How often do we think
if God didn't let this happen,
if he changed this circumstance,
if he changed this event,
then it would be fine.
You see, living by unbelief
just leads to blaming God.
In fact, it goes a step further
and a step deeper.
It leads to living as God.
Look at verse 13 again.
And when God
caused me to wander
from my father's household,
I said to her,
this is how you can
show your love to me.
Everywhere we go,
say of me,
he is my brother.
This was the text
that Abraham had
at his front door
of his house.
It kind of ruled
their lives.
Everywhere they went,
everywhere they travelled,
this is how you can
show your love to me.
Remember,
everywhere you go,
say of me,
he is my brother.
He came up
with his own rules.
Ones that ensured
he was kept safe.
Of course,
he presented it all
as a wonderful act of love,
wasn't it?
This is how you can
show your love to me.
Oh, Sarah,
if you really loved me,
you would see that
this is a good plan
for your life.
Never mind the harm
it does to Sarah
as long as Abraham
is okay.
You see,
he is acting
as if he is God,
that he knows best
and that he knows better.
And that is what
living by unbelief
is all about.
It is saying,
I am God,
this is my life,
and I will do
what I want
for me.
Can you see
the devastating impact
of living by unbelief?
My thoughts
replace
God's word.
My circumstances
are God's fault.
My life,
my way.
Doesn't it all
sound so familiar?
Doesn't it sound like
our
groundhog days?
God's fault.
It's not
good.
But here is the point
of the whole text.
We don't have
to live like this.
The cycle
has been broken.
We can live
lives of faith
and trust
in God.
So third,
look at the
gracious response
to living
by unbelief.
The gracious
response.
chapter 20
is certainly
a tragic
account.
Abraham,
the man of faith,
is really Abraham,
the man of
unbelief.
His actions
have messed up
the life of Abimelech
and all his family
and it's messed up
his life
and put his own
wife in danger.
And as readers
of the text,
as we read
through it,
we expect to read
something like this.
And God spoke
to Abraham
in a dream.
That's it,
Abraham.
It's not going
to work.
I've given you
every opportunity.
I've given you
chance after chance.
I've reminded you
of all my promises.
It's not going
to work.
I'm going to have
to look for
someone I can
trust.
But that's not
how it ends,
is it?
Because God
amazingly
responds in
grace
and kindness.
He doesn't
get the stick
out.
He doesn't
start berating
Abraham all
around the
place.
God
restores
Abraham
in all
of his
mess.
And he
does it
in two
ways.
First,
Abraham
is blessed
by God.
God
has obviously
been at work
in Abimelech's
life.
Let's read
about that
in verse
7.
God
spoke to
Abimelech
and said,
Now return
the man's
wife,
for he is
a prophet,
and he
will pray
for you
and you
will live.
But if
you do
not return
her,
you may
be sure
that you
and all
who belong
to you
will die.
You see,
it's a call
to Abimelech
to repent,
to change
the way
you're going.
So,
returning
Abraham's
wife
is
repenting
of what
he had
done.
The
evidence
of his
repentance
is now
seen in
how he
treats
Abraham,
verse 14.
Then
Abimelech
bought
sheep
and cattle
and male
and female
slaves or
workers and
gave them
to Abraham
and he
returned
Sarah,
his wife,
to him.
And on
top of
all of
that,
Abimelech
said,
my land
is before
you,
live
wherever
you like.
Now,
aren't you
amazed
at how
Abraham,
who caused
all the
mess,
who lied
and brought
such misery
to Abimelech,
who put
his own
wife in
danger,
ends up
being
blessed.
We're reading
and go,
no,
that's not
right,
you can't
do that
sort of
thing,
it's not
fair.
If anything,
it should
be the
other way
around.
But that's
the extraordinary
way in which
God works.
God doesn't
treat us
as our
unbelief
deserves.
And God's
grace doesn't
even end
there.
Because look
what happens
next.
He not
only blesses
Abraham,
he now
starts
using
Abraham.
He uses
a man
of unbelief
to bring
blessing to
Abimelech.
Look at
verse 7
again.
God said
to Abimelech,
return the
man's wife,
for he is a
prophet,
and he
will pray
for you,
and you
will live.
Verse 17,
then Abraham
prayed to
God,
and God
healed
Abimelech,
his wife,
and his
female slaves,
so that they
could have
children again,
for the Lord
had kept all
the women
in Abimelech's
household from
conceiving
because of
Abraham's
wife,
Sarah.
Isn't it
extraordinary?
God uses
a sinner
like Abraham
to pray
for a
sinner
like Abimelech.
unbelieving
Abraham
gets down
on his
knees
and prays
for God's
blessing,
and Abimelech
gets blessed.
Isn't it
amazing?
And if
God can
use an
unbelieving
sinner like
Abraham
to bring
blessing to
another person,
how much
more will
God bring
his blessing
through the
faithful and
obedient
Son,
Jesus
Christ.
Not just
to one
person,
but bring
blessing
to all
nations.
You see,
it's not
that God
ignores
the
unbelief.
No,
God knew
there was
unbelief,
and God
had to
deal with
it,
so God
sent his
Son,
Jesus,
who was
treated on
the cross
as an
unbeliever
for you
and for
me,
and God
punished
our sin
in Jesus
so that
we could
be forgiven.
We are
blessed.
We were
reminded of
that blessing,
weren't we,
at the beginning
of our time
this morning.
Let me read
to you again
Psalm 32.
Blessed
is the one
whose transgressions
are forgiven,
whose sins
are covered.
Blessed
is the one
whose sin
the Lord
does not
count against
them,
and in
whose spirit
is no
deceit.
You know
right now
if you're
trusting
in the
Lord Jesus,
not one
of your
sins
are remembered
by God.
Not one.
As far
as the
east is
from the
west,
so far
as he
removed
every one
of them,
no longer
to be
remembered.
you are
blessed.
But more
than that,
it's blessing
upon blessing.
Ephesians 1.
Blessed.
He has
blessed us
in the
heavenly realms
with what?
Every
spiritual
blessing in
Christ.
Not just
some here
and there,
but every
spiritual
blessing.
We have
redemption
through his
blood,
the forgiveness
of sins
in accordance
with the
riches
of God's
grace
that he
has
lavished
upon us.
You see,
if you've
turned to
Jesus,
all your
moments of
unbelief,
all those
groundhog days
are no longer
held against
you.
you are
free from
guilt and
shame.
You are
loved and
treasured
forever.
You see,
we can look
at this text
together and
think,
oh, but my
life and the
knock-on effects
of the things
I have said
and the things
that I have
done and how
it's affected
my children
and how it's
affected this
person and that
person,
how could any
of that be
forgiven?
forgiven.
But this is
the good news
of the gospel.
It is all
forgiven.
It is no
longer held
against you.
It's no
longer held
against me.
It's all
been forgiven.
But not
only that,
he takes us
as messed up,
broken people
and he blesses
us and he
says,
now go
and be a
blessing
to other
people.
and perhaps
the best
way we can
start to
bring blessing
is like
Abraham,
to start
praying for
our children
and for our
families and
for our
friends to
get down on
our knees,
messed and
broken as we
are, but
yet God
using us to
bring blessing
to other
people.
You see,
God is
determined to
bring blessing
to the
nations and
God in his
grace will
use people
like us,
people who
are weak
and fragile
in faith but
are held up
in the
faithful hands
of God,
never holding
our sin
against us,
but filling
us with his
spirit and
sending us
into the
world and
into our
communities and
into our
families and
saying,
you can
be a
blessing.
We don't
have to
live in a
cycle of
unbelief.
We simply
believe in
God's promise
that we are
set free and
we are changed
and we can
live the life
that he has
called us to,
never to be
held back
again.
Let's just
take time to
reflect.
Let's
just take time
to reflect.
Father God,
we are
amazed
at your
kindness
in how you
respond to
us.
thank you
for your
grace afresh.
Thank you
that because
of your
son Jesus
Christ,
we are
blessed.
We are
made new.
We can
live a new
way.
Help us
this day
to not
only hear
the promises
you have,
but to
believe them
and to
live by
them.
in the
knowledge
that all
our sin
is forgiven,
never held
against us,
and that
because we
are now
your children
filled with
your spirit,
we can
go and
be a
blessing to
others.
No matter
how we feel
about ourselves,
no matter
what we
have done,
you can
use us.
Thank you,
Lord.
Thank you for
this privilege
and we
pray that
you will
indeed bless
our children
and bless
our families
and bless
our neighbours
and would
you,
Father,
please bring
them to
faith in
Jesus too
because you
are good
and you
are kind.
thank you,
Lord.
Amen.
We're going to
sing together
a song that
will help us
to celebrate
the amazing
grace and the
amazing goodness
of God to
us.
I stand
amazed in
the presence
of Jesus
the Nazarene
and wonder
how he
could love
me.
How
marvellous,
how
wonderful.
I invite
you to
stand to
sing if
you're able.
Thank you.